


Past Twelve

by ZacharyHundley



Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types, Scooby Doo Where Are You! (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Trapped In Elevator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26898262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZacharyHundley/pseuds/ZacharyHundley
Summary: Trapped in an elevator, Shaggy and Velma talk to pass the time.
Relationships: Velma Dinkley/Norville "Shaggy" Rogers
Kudos: 9





	Past Twelve

“Zoinks!”

“Jinkies!”

The antique gothic-style elevator came to a grinding halt. According to the tarnished brass indicator dial, Shaggy and Velma were now trapped somewhere between floors twelve and fourteen. Shaggy straightened his green v-neck and gulped. The dim light of flickering amber bulbs above was all but subsumed by the dark brick of the surrounding elevator shaft.

“Like, Scoob and I only agreed to help chase this ghost because you said this hotel didn’t have a thirteenth floor!”

“C’mon Shaggy, don’t be so superstitious,” Velma lectured, “the number thirteen can’t actually hurt you. In fact, with enough examination the whole conceit of ‘unlucky’ numbers falls apart! Take the number four for example — Did you know it’s associated with death and misfortune in Chinese culture? And in Japan they fear the number nine? I can’t think of any logical reason unlucky numbers would be geographically-influenced. In fact... ”

Ignoring her, Shaggy shook desperately at the elevator’s ornate cast iron doors.

“SCOOBY!”

“FRED!”

“DAPHNE!”

“LIKE, GET US OUT OF THIS DEATHTRAP!”

Velma had serious doubts her lanky friend was strong enough to pry open the gated doors. She watched him try anyway. Through gritted teeth, he griped “Like, there’s a ghost on the prowl, we’re separated from the rest of the gang and I missed dinner! The last thing I need tonight is more bad luck.”

Running his hand anxiously through his sandy blonde hair, Shaggy squeaked “Like, if we were in Tokyo the ninth floor would still be my last choice to get stuck on!” A few minutes of exertion later, Shaggy finally surrendered to the reality of the situation: Like a pair of exotic birds in an antique birdcage, He and Velma weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Velma and Shaggy sat across from each other on the dusty blue tiled floor of the elevator cart. As many mysteries as the two had solved together, somehow they’d never spent this much time alone with each other. Shaggy stared vacantly at what appeared to be traces of red mold growing from the tile’s grout. Velma fidgeted nervously with the sleeves of her baggy orange turtleneck. Somewhere in the distance, a grandfather clock chimed quarter till midnight.

“Oh my, I guess we’ll just have to keep each other company until Fred Daphne and Scooby find us.”

“Hold on man! What if the gh-gh-ghost finds us first!”

Velma adjusted her black horn-rimmed glasses.“You don’t really think the ‘ghost’ haunting this hotel can walk through walls...”

“Like, isn’t that just the type of sp-sp-spookiness ghosts love? Shaggy’s voice broke. “We’re sitting ducks!”

Velma leaned forward to comfortingly touch Shaggy’s knee over his brown bell-bottoms.

“Do you remember Miner Forty-Niner?”

Shaggy nodded and looked up at Velma questioningly.

“He gave us five quite a fright! We spent all day running through the mine shafts beneath that ghost town. The legend’s weren’t true though. Miner Forty-Niner wasn’t a ghost. He was just a greedy old man in stilts scaring people away from his secret crude oil reserves.”

“Like, maybe Miner Forty-Niner was just old man Hank in a costume, but-”

“And what about the Snow Ghost?,” Velma interrupted, “We thought a flying yeti was ruining our ski trip. Turns out it was just Mr. Greenway covering up his jewelry smuggling operation! He even had a special pair of transparent skis to give the illusion of flight.”

Velma's voice took on a more excited tone and Shaggy released some of the tension he’d been holding in his shoulders.

“Or the Wax Phantom that attacked us when we filmed that dance contest for TV! Johnny Sands had us convinced that a vengeful wax museum employee created a real-life monster.” Velma adjusted her glasses which had slid down her button nose again. “But when you and Scooby trapped the Phantom and Fred unmasked him it-”

“Like, it was just Mr. Stevens in a monster suit! If it weren’t for us he’d have fled to South America by now with all that TV station money he embezzled!”

Smiling now, Velma straightened her pleated skirt and continued.

“So Shaggy, I can’t be completely sure 13th floors aren’t unlucky. I can’t definitively prove that ghosts don’t exist. I can’t entirely discredit the idea that an ancient spirit roams the halls of this hotel each night by candlelight. And I can’t 100% rule out the possibility that this phantom devours any guests who dare to leave their rooms after midnight. I’m just saying it’s unlikely this ghost will be the first we’ve investigated that doesn’t turn out to be a scam artist with ulterior motives. When the clock strikes midnight, I bet that suspicious peg-legged concierge...”

“Or that creepy bellhop with an eye patch!” chimed in Shaggy.

“...will dress up in white bed sheets and do his best to scare guests away from snooping around the property. 

Now Shaggy was grinning too.

“Like, maybe you’re right Velma,” he offered, “every other goblin and ghoul we’ve faced has been a criminal in a mask. There’s probably some financial reason to keep people from exploring this hotel late at night. Like, maybe a competing bed-and-breakfast is determined to get this place shut down. Or like, maybe a secret society meets in the lobby. There’s no way the culprit behind this scam could even get inside our elevator without calling the fire department first!”

Shaggy and Velma were both standing now.

“See Shaggy, there’s nothing supernatural to be afraid of. We’ll both be safe until morning, or whenever the rest of the gang comes looking for us. We may as well use this time to draft a list of potential suspects and their motives. The concierge did seem suspiciously strict this morning when he warned us not to snoop around past midnight- ”

At that very moment, the distant grandfather clock struck twelve. As if a freezing wind escaped from the elevator shaft below, the temperature dropped instantly. Before Shaggy and Velma had time to shiver, the gated metal walls of the elevator began to shake violently back and forth. Thick red blood seeped over the dark bricks of the elevator shaft on all four sides. More blood dripped from the ceiling, pooling in the cracks of the tiled floor below. The mystery-solving teenagers screamed together in terror and an ancient, bone-chilling voice echoed from everywhere at once.

“WHICH FOOLISH MORTALS DARE LEAVE THEIR ROOM AT THIS CURSED HOUR”


End file.
